This was just a piano in the woods

Any piano, big or small, is a piano after all...

This one happened to be in the middle of the woods... in Massachusetts... and in tune.

Curious.

The answer is just out of reach.

NBC kills environmental show during "Green Week"

Oh the irony! During NBC's Green Week (a celebration of environmentally friendly policy and promoting a green lifestyle) the media giant canceled the Weather Channel show "Forecast Earth." The show focused on global climate change and featured former CNN anchor Natalie Allen with contributions from climate change expert Heidi Cullen.

Green is universal indeed.

XKCD: Experimentation

"I understand large samples are key to a low standard error of the mean, but the entire sophomore class?"

Sarah Palin interviewed while turkeys slaughtered

Alaska Governor and former GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave an interview after "pardoning" a group of turkeys before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Unbeknownst to her, there is a gentleman in the background watching her and slaughtering turkeys. The video is somewhat graphic, so consider yourself warned.

Thanksgiving Tip

Make this year a winner: Turbaconducken

That's right, why roast a turkey when you can take down Old MacDonald's entire farm. Who, honestly could resist a whole chicken, wrapped in bacon stuffed inside an entire duck, which also happens to be wrapped in bacon and stuffed inside a turkey, you guessed it, wrapped in bacon. This thirty pound, thirty one thousand three hundred eighty seven calorie delight can be yours with a quick trip to the grocery store and an utter lack of shame.

Thanks to our friends at Bacon Today: step-by-step instructions.

Now, if only we could figure out how to deep-fry this bad boy. . .

XKCD: Theft of the Magi

XKCD goes old school with Gift... er... Theft of the Magi.



"Every Roomba needs a dueling harness."

B****, I TOLD YOU NOT TO PUT MAYO ON MY D*** SANDWICH

On Friday, a Florida man was arrested for assaulting his wife with.....
a sandwich. Yes, a sandwich.
The man and his girlfriend were in the car driving on I-95 when he allegedly hit her in the arm and face with a sandwich. Investigation continues...

A Surprising Note on All Things Political and Gay...

Here is a graph showing the shift, either more Republican or more Democrat, among self identified groups of voters.

What is most interesting, to my mind, is that there was a marked shift away, by percentage, from the Democrats, to the Republicans...among the gays. Not really surprising to me, that. We had the most gay-friendly Republican ticket in history. But also of note is the fact that Obama did several things to hurt himself among the gay community.

CBK

Tastes like Chicken.

In other news, Poland is not coming to any state dinners anytime soon:

"Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary," said Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.

Apparently he was only giving an example of a racist joke. Thanks for the education, I had no idea what racism was.

Yar, Pirates!

Pirates of the Indian Ocean hijacked a huge tanker and are trying to take it back to Somalia. They swashbuckled their way into what is easily the biggest heist on the high seas ever. Yar.

Actually, that's 100 million dollars worth of oil, you should seriously give that back.

Seriously.

The Bat Hunter

Crikey!

$21 million to repair doomsday

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1859684,00.html?cnn=yes

"Fixing the world's largest atom smasher will cost at least 25 million francs ($21 million) and may take until early summer, its operator said Monday.

The atom smasher operates at temperatures colder than outer space to get maximum efficiency and experts needed to gradually warm the damaged section to better assess it, he said.

That will show on a tiny scale what happened one-trillionth of a second after the so-called Big Bang, which many scientists theorize was the massive explosion that formed the universe. The theory holds that the universe was rapidly cooling at that stage and matter was changing rapidly."

Making the picture cloudy

Tony Romo returns (broken pinky and all) to lead the Cowboys to a win that puts 'America's Team' right back into the playoff hunt

The Economist weighs in on the financial crisis

Is that what I think it is?

Yup - it totally is...




President George W. Bush is flashing the "shocker" with the 2008 NCAA sports champions.





Wow.

Another addition to the list of speculation on autism...

Over the past decades, diagnosis and awareness of the spectrum of Autism disorders has skyrocketed. But, ask 100 people what causes Autism and you will probably get 100 different answers. Many mothers of children with Autism will tell you it's due to the MMR vaccine, some say its a rotovirus that punctuates the bowel and travels to the brain, others call it a severe allergy to glutin and casein. Researchers in California have just added their two cents to the bucket- rain. Yup, rain. As odd as it sounds, it does appear that there may actually be a link between rainy weather and rates of autism in California and Oregon. No one is quite sure why, whether it's the rain itself or it's becuase the children in these climates spend more time inside with televisio and household chemicals. No one knows, but it's another theory.

This has always bugged me, too

The Amazing Sounds of Failing Hard Drive

The amazing sounds of the killing hordes, the day the hard drive collapses on us.

The sounds that 35 different types of hard drives make as they slowly die.

Additional commentary at Slashdot.

50 Thinks you might not know about the President - Elect

• He likes Spiderman
• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali.
• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea.
• His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy.
• Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita.

continue . . .

This takes "Change we can believe in" to a WHOLE new level

This election has given us many firsts- first black president, first female on the Republican ticket, etc. Well, I have just found out about another one. Silverton, Oregon has elected the nation's first ever openly transgendered mayor. Stu Rasmussen has been a fixture in Silverton politics for a while now, and actually served two terms as mayor in the past- before he became a she. Amazingly, he doesn't see any of the attention as warranted. He sees being open about his transgendered-ness as "blackmail-proof" saying that because his appearance was no secret, the race could be dominated by the issues that really matter.

No XKCD today

I wasn't really impressed with today's XKCD. Instead, please enjoy this Toothpaste for Dinner comic.

Remember that bombing in Pakistan thing?

You know - that whole "if we have actionable intelligence and the Pakistan government is unable or unwilling, we should attack the terrorists ourselves" thing?

Apparently, we're already doing that.

Way to go, Obama - giving away the Bush Administration's play book.

A cure for HIV?

For years, researchers have known that some people are immune to HIV due to a genetic mutation in their cell membranes. More recently a German physician replaced the bone marrow of an HIV patient with bone marrow from a person with the mutation. Two years later, the HIV is gone.

that is one HOT first lady

Take the brains of Hillary, add the uncomplicated charm of Laura, and the impeccable style of Jackie. Put it all together, and what do you have? One AMAZINGLY hot first lady.




photo available here

Change.gov comes online

President-elect Barack Obama has launched Change.gov, a website that outlines, in plain English and detail, the plan for transitioning governments.

Have a question? Looking for a job in the Obama Administration? Change.gov has the answers.

Interestingly, the content is copyrighted by the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501C(4) organization. It seems they were planning and prepared for victory.

For additional commentary, check out Slashdot.

Bad Dog

We now have the most high profile case for the dog whisperer....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27578582/

iPhone Ocarina

The next iteration of iPhone as instrument apps is available - the iPhone Ocarina.

One preset allows the user to relive the NES glory days with a little Zelda action.



Perhaps that doesn't catch your fancy and you'd prefer a bunch of geeks playing Zepplin.



Courtesy of Gizmodo

XKCD: Faust 2.0

"The only blood these contracts are signed in is from me cutting my hand trying to open the goddamn CD case."

XKCD: Election

Oh shit... what do I do now?

Obama Beats McCain

And so the nightmare comes to a close.

I'm gonna vote like the spirit say vote.

"I'm asking you to believe, not just in my ability to change Washington, but yours." - Barack Obama

And so begins a new era.

Better safe than sorry on BPA

The FDA recently released a statement saying that the chemical BPA is "safe at current exposure levels." This statement contradicts more than 100 studies saying just the opposite, and linking BPA to cancer, heart disease, and most unnerving of all, developmental and brain delays in babies and fetuses. For those of you who are unaware, BPA is a chemical found in many hard plastics used for packaging (not a big deal) and drinking (big deal). While it's not that frightening in packaging plastic when you just touch it, in things like baby bottles and some Nalgene-style water bottles, you end up ingesting the chemical along with your drink. With all the contradiction, its safe to say that the jury is still out on BPA, so in my opinion, it's best to just avoid it and stick with water bottles and baby bottles that are listed as "BPA-free".

Economist: It's Time

From the Economist:

He has earned it

So Mr Obama in that respect is a gamble. But the same goes for Mr McCain on at least as many counts, not least the possibility of President Palin. And this cannot be another election where the choice is based merely on fear. In terms of painting a brighter future for America and the world, Mr Obama has produced the more compelling and detailed portrait. He has campaigned with more style, intelligence and discipline than his opponent. Whether he can fulfil his immense potential remains to be seen. But Mr Obama deserves the presidency.

Dutch baby boom comes 9 months after blackout

A cluster of Dutch villages is experiencing a baby boom nine months after a two day blackout. The birth rate is up 44% from the same period last year. While the Netherlands is experiencing a declining birth rate, local officials don't plan on deliberately cutting the power for a repeat this year.

"Don't even joke," Van Eijkeren said, laughing. "In Holland, we would like to have more inhabitants -- but not in this way."

The Curse Is Broken....

As a die-hard sports fan, I couldn't sleep tonight before I posted this:

The "curse of William Penn" is broken, 25 years after the city's last sports championship and 28 years and 9 days since the last world series championship, the Philadelphia Phillies are the 2008 World Series Champions!

American Stories, American Solutions

Just in case you missed the big Obamercial.

Tax Plans Made Simple

On the topic....

Since Sen. McCain has been calling Obama out on being a "socialist" recently.... this is an interesting piece from the New Yorker

Hold on to your hats!

From the Economist:

Pennsylvania is vital to what Mr McCain calls his “narrow victory” strategy—eking out just enough votes in the electoral college to win the White House. If Mr McCain can capture Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes, he can offset Barack Obama’s gains in Republican strongholds in the Mountain West; if he loses Pennsylvania, his goose is probably cooked.

A New Trend

Let's call it..... global cooling maybe?

Either way, this is dumb. Where's the 70 degree weather?

Happy Birthday to the most bully of moosen

THE former president, born 150 years ago today, was interviewed in his childhood home at 28 East 20th Street. He has long been a ghostly presence there. The house is now the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. Due to Roosevelt’s great age, it is difficult to tell how well he hears contemporary questions. But he is as forceful as ever in expressing himself. His statements below are drawn from the historic record and are uncut except when interrupted by his interviewer.

University of Notre Dame Not Racist After All?

So it seems that when the Notre Dame football program fired Tyrone Willingham a few years ago, they weren't doing it in an act of racism, but because he just isn't that great of a head coach.

Now, Willingham will gain a 1 million dollar buyout at the end of the season, being relieved of his duties at the University of Washington today after starting the year 0-7 and losing, ironically enough, to Notre Dame this past Saturday.

.....I'm just happy this is one chapter of a book that can finally be ended.


Also, for those getting caught up in World Series "phever"...... game 5 will be resumed Tuesday evening, weather permitting. Phillies and Rays tied at 2.

Whasaaaaap?!?

8 years later.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE

Harry Potter pick-up lines

Because any social bookmarking site needs the occasional (preferably rare), entirely irrelevant blog post containing pop culture references and gratuitous sexual innuendo.

With nuggets like these, how can't you win?

Have you heard of Platform 9 and 3/4? Well, I can think of something else with the exact same measurements.

I'd like to get my basilisk into your chamber of secrets.

Harry Potter Pick-up Lines

Biden explains VP job to a fifth grader

While Governor Sarah Palin might not have an accurate understanding of the job of the Vice President, Senator Joe Biden was successful in explaining the position to a fifth grade reporter. As an added bonus, Biden is now the "homeboy" of another young American.

Anchorage Daily News enordses Obama

There is really nothing I can say that beats what the Anchorage Daily News says of their own native daughter:

"Alaska's founders were optimistic people, but even the most farsighted might have been stretched to imagine this scenario... Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment... To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range. Like picking Sen. McCain for president, putting her one 72-year-old heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time."

Read the full article here... it's pretty awesome

How appropriate... maybe.

"Like most business owners, brewers tend to avoid politics and religion out of fear of alienating customers. At the same time, microbrewing has become an intensely competitive industry, so putting a saint on a bottle can help a guy stand out...

Another entrepreneur peddled "WWJB: What Would Jesus Brew?" T-shirts, with an image of a smiling Jesus with a mash paddle in one hand and a pint glass in the other...

God is good."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/10/24/beer.god.ap/index.html

Someone needs to be told that beer plus God equals good... someone in my family... hmm...

Good Looks More Important Than Foreign Policy?

you be the judge..... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27364669/

Improve your flaming today, you frenchified ninnyhammer

In recognition of a growing problem of unimaginative and unoriginal insults in this world of ever-increasing flame wars, Neatorama brings us a guide to improving our web wit and forum flagrations.

Submitted for your approval: ten insulting words to increase your vindictive vocabulary.

Obama Purchases Ad Space on the Side of McCain's bus

Source

Hope for MS sufferers

It appears that a drug formerly used to treat leukemia, called alemtuzumab, may be a cure for MS. Nothing is final yet, but preliminary studies are looking quite promising. The article gets a little sciencey, so here's a quick summary:
Basically, MS is an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system gets confused and instead of attacking a disease, it attacks your own tissues. Different types of autoimmune disorders attack different body systems, MS happens to attack the cells in your brain responsible for normal movement and sensation, which results in sensations of numbness and burning as well as weakness and uncoordinated movement. Alemtuzumab will attack certain receptors on the main cells of the immune system (T and B cells), which basically wipes out the "attack cells" of the immune system so that they stop attacking your brain. The big thing that sets this drug apart from similar attempts in the past is that this drug leaves intact certain parts of the immune system which still allow you to fight diseases (not as well as you originally would have been able to, but enough).
This is a HUGE breakthrough for medicine- a completely unprecedented treatment for a disease previously thought to be incurable and degenerative. There are still some serious side effects to work out and it's only in phase II of testing, but here's hoping!

The International Electoral College: what if everyone voted?

The Economist has redrawn the electoral map to give all 195 of the world's countries (including the United States) a say in the election's outcome. As in America, each country has been allocated a minimum of three electoral-college votes with extra votes allocated in proportion to population size. With over 6.5 billion people enfranchised, the result is a much larger electoral college of 9,875 votes. But rally your countrymen—a nation must have at least ten individual votes in order to have its electoral-college votes counted.

There are few countries whose votes in the Global Electoral College are a foregone conclusion. So the winner is unlikely to be decided by a small number of "swing countries". Rather, they will have to cobble together a coalition of small, medium and large nations. (A campaign stop in Beijing is recommended, as well as a tour of Africa.) Voting in the Global Electoral College will close at midnight London time on November 1st, when the candidate with most electoral-college votes will be declared the winner.

Al Qaida endorses John McCain

In a twist of irony, Republican Presidential Nominee and US Senator John McCain recently received an endorsement from an unlikely source - Al Qaida. The endorsement came via a website with Al Qaida affiliations.

"If al-Qaida carries out a big operation against American interests," the message said, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaida. Al-Qaida then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it."

It seems the terrorists are worried about the global financial crisis too.

XKCD: Scrabble

Oh the internal conflict and missed opportunities.

How could you believe that Bachmann was questioning Barack Obama's Patiotism when she questioned Barack Obama's Patiotism

So if you haven't already seen the modern day McCarthy in her element here's Congresswoman Bachmann reviving the House Unamerican Activities Committee.




Well now she's saying it was a 'misstatement'. I think I'd have to agree, if my opponent raised a million bucks off the stupid crap flying out of my mouth, I'd call it a misstatement too.

FORE!

MORGAN, Utah (AP) - A Utah sheriff's office has found that it shouldn't underestimate the golf cart as a getaway car.

A suspect in a souped-up cart managed to elude officers who pursued him last month through an alfalfa field - but only for a while. He was arrested the next day at his grandmother's house.

Officers started pursuing the driver after he was spotted spinning out in a city park in Morgan. He took off into an alfalfa field and jumped irrigation ditches that the sheriff's cruisers couldn't cross.

Morgan County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Peay suspects the cart was fitted with a car engine instead of the original electric motor.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081019/D93TPEJG0.html

Turn your car into KITT

Have you ever watched Knight Rider and thought to yourself, "Damn, that would be sweet to have a car like that"? Well, now you can... sort of.

The Knight Rider GPS unit offers you turn-by-turn directions in the signature KITT voice, by none other than William Daniels aka Mr. Feeny.

Gimmicks aside, the unit is supposed to be pretty solid as far as GPS devices go. Even when the novelty wears off, you still have a quality piece of hardware on your dash.

Yes, We Carve (Si, Se Labrar)

Make your own Barack O'Lantern at Yes We Carve

No, it wasn't "robbery," it was...borrowing?

A Nebraska judge banned an accuser from using the words "rape" and "victim" during a trial. Instead she was forced to use words such as "sex."

Is it just me or are the connotations of these two words NOT the same?

He said it was because he was concerned about a fair trial for the defendant and didn't want others swayed by the language, but the trial was to determine if it was rape. We don't ban the word "murder" in a murder trial. And part of the evidence was a rape kit, to which she could not refer to as such.

Ridiculous.

Wrinkle reduction - yet another benefit of LEDs

That's right, exposure to high-intensity light from LEDs can actually smooth out wrinkles. The scientists in the study think they've cracked the secret:

the light penetrates the skin layers and removes built-up water molecules which stop the elastin in your skin from being so flexible. Hence smoothed-out wrinkles.

Just one more way that LEDs are revolutionizing your world.

Who wouldn't vote for this man....



....any more brain busters?

"Joe Plumber" isn't what he seems

After referencing him heavily in the debate as a "real world" example of someone who would be negatively affected by Barack Obama's economic policy, John McCain forgot to read the fine print.

"He owes back taxes. He is not a licensed plumber. And it turns out that Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a year, which means he would receive a tax cut if Obama were elected president."

Oops.

Too bad his last name isn't a little more generic, it may be a while before the poor guys lives this one down.

Great Escape: Gaza Strip

Since Israel built its wall around the Gaza Strip, a new industry has emerged: digging tunnels.

Reports estimate that there are hundreds of tunnels along the border and thousands are working in them. Hamas authorities are even regulating the industry with licenses and trade controls. The tunnels are used to import a wide variety of products food and fuel to (according to Israeli officials) arms.

If you can't go through it, around it, or over it, go under it.

I really think we need a caption challenge

Sacramento GOP Campaign Materials

Barack is way more photogenic, so clearly it's not the only difference. Jerks.

Fox News keeps it real.

Colin Powell dances

He's at some something or another for some good cause or whatever. Read the article if you want

Do NOT send Ringo Starr ANYMORE fanmail! Seriously!

In an extremely eloquently worded video (note: sarcasm) posted recently on his website, Ringo Starr adamantly instructs all those visiting his website not to send any fan mail to be read or objects to be signed or they WILL be tossed. He is simply too busy and does not have any time for his fans- all 6 of them. Yes, those people who have made him who he is today- it has just become far too much for him. I just have a few questions:

1) Who was sending Ringo Starr fan mail in the first place?
2) Does this then mean that I don't have time to spend $54.95 on a Ringo Starr hoodie?
3) How does he then have time to run a contest on his website to "handpick" a photo sent in by one of these "numerous fans" to be featured on the official website? Is anyone else getting mixed messages here?

Watch the video

HOLD the phone...

An interesting idea, but have they considered the situation of someone being a PASSENGER in a car? or for that matter a train or a bus??

Palin is a Parrot

John Cleese shares his thoughts about Vice Presidential Nominee Governor Palin

XKCD: Steal this comic

Between being a criminal and being a criminal, I choose being a criminal.

Alaska Judge: Palin must save her emails

An Alaskan Superior Court judge ruled that Governor Sarah Palin must save emails from her Yahoo! account. He determined that she was, in fact, using the accounts to conduct state business and that the emails must be preserved as part of public record. Alaska's public record laws were last updated prior to the rapid expansion of the internet.

The investigation brought to light some other email address that the Republican VP nominee has been using to conduct state business, including one from her now-dormant campaign website.

Has the Bradley Effect been replaced with the Reverse Bradley Effect?

The Bradley Effect, named for mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley, proposes an explanation for the phenomena of a discrepancy between election results and opinion polls in contests between white and African-American opponents. In the past, voters have told pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for the African-American candidate, when those voters ultimately vote for the opponent.

New studies indicate that, since certain racially sensitive issues were more or less resolved in 1996 (eg violent crime and welfare reform) that this effect has actually reversed - African-American candidates tend to do better in elections than in polling.

International Herald Tribune is there with an in depth look at the phenomena.

Crowd boos after McCain says Obama isn't an Arab Terrorist

The crowds at McCain-Palin rallies are getting increasingly frustrated, angry, and out of McCain's control. One woman said she couldn't trust Obama because she thinks he is a Muslim before McCain retrieved the microphone and said

"No, ma'am. He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about. He's not [an Arab terrorist]."

McCain has tried to calm the crowds, extolling them to be respectful, citing that he and Obama simply have fundamental disagreements on how to run the country.

This seems to be a growing trend with some crowd members yelling things like "traitor," "treason," "terrorist," and even "kill him!"

New York County Prints Barack 'Osama' on Ballots

Freudian slip or are the 's' and 'b' keys just too close together on the keyboard?

CNN

Petraeus: I do think you have to talk to enemies

General Petraeus responded to a question from an audience member about some of Senator John McCain's comments during the debate about talking to enemies. Petraeus responded, "I do think you have to talk to enemies."

The Krona is Dead

Today Iceland has all but hit rock bottom. They are on the brink of bankruptcy and are now seeking help from the World Bank.

Remembering the Keating Five

Amidst the release of a short film by the Obama Campaign on the Keating Five Scandal, Time magazine investigates:

"An investigation into Lincoln Savings and Loan uncovered flagrant violations of these regulations, exceeding the limit by over $615 million. But before any measures could be taken against the company, five Senators came calling at the FHLBB, requesting that the charges against Lincoln not be pursued, on the basis that the S&L was a major employer in their states. These Senators — McCain , John Glenn (D-OH), Alan Cranston (D-CA), Donald Riegle (D-MI) and Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ) . . . One of the only elements that linked the men together was Charles Keating. The banker had been a major contributor to each of their campaigns, donating close to $1.4 million dollars total. Keating also considered John McCain to be a close personal friend, with whom he'd shared vacations and business ventures."

". . . when Keating was asked whether his financial support had influenced the Senators on his behalf, he responded 'I want to say in the most forceful way I can: I hope so.'"

The Senate Ethics Committee found that McCain had broken no law, but had engaged in "poor judgment".

CNN analyzed the claims directly and agreed the film is: "true"

Forget Cable and Satellite

With all of the hype over the Federal requirement for all OTA (Over-The-Air) transmissions and TV sets to be purely digital it seems more than appropriate that I write this.
Sometime in the near future TV as we know it is going to change, and change more drastically than just these digital OTA signals. What I am telling you is that now is the time to start changing over, and, at the same time, especially in these harder economic times, severely decrease your TV bill or eliminate it all together.

1. Get an HD antenna. Hook one of these up to your existing cable lines in your house, and either purchase a new HDTV, or, the signal converter boxes for your TV. Often times you are able to pick up more than just your local stations over the air. There are people in my area who are able to pick up both Comedy Central and ESPN, for FREE.

2. Sign up for Netflix. Netflix is pretty inexpensive and for $16.99 a month you can have 3 DVDs out at a time, and have unlimited rentals per month.

3. Get a ROKU. If you're a Netflix member you have the option of streaming movies right to your PC over the internet. For $99.99 you can buy a ROKU, a box that allows you to stream DVD quality movies from your Netflix subscription straight to your TV. If you don't want a lot of obscure or old films from Netflix, you can downgrade to their $8.99/mo. plan which allows 1 DVD out at a time, unlimited rentals, and the capability to stream unlimited videos to your computer/ROKU.

4. Get an Apple TV. Sure they are $299.99, which is a little pricey, but their content is cheap, sometimes as cheap, if you buy a season pass, some shows are as low as $0.90 an hour, which is less than what I pay per hour for cable. You also open up access to Youtube which is full of content.

5. If DVR is your thing, you can have that too. Sony and LG offer great models that are, depending on where you purchase them from, anywhere from $200-$400 online. They allow you to record multiple shows at once, record a show while you watch a show, and pause/fast-forward/rewind live TV. They also offer you access to a FREE on-screen TV guide.

6. Get Verizon DSL. You can get 3mbps, sometimes 6mbps, if you call and ask them for a higher data rate for $29.99 a month.

So, if you are currently paying, like I am $150 a month for your cable and internet, which is $1800 a year, you can decrease your costs a lot... here's the breakdown:

One-Time Costs:
- ROKU $99
- DVR $300
- AppleTV $300
-------------------
Total Cost $700

Monthly Costs:
- 5 TV shows on AppleTV (4 episodes each @1.10 on season pass) $22
- Netflix Subscription $8.99
- DSL $29.99
-------------
Total Monthly Cost $61

- First Year Cost: $1432 (Savings of $568)
- Every year After: $732 (Savings of $1068)

Ball-busting may now actually have a purpose!

New research suggests that there may be stem cells available in many unexpected places in the adult body- such as testicles. While they are not quite as much of a "blank slate" as embryonic stem cells, the pluripotent cells were shown to mature into connective tissue, muscle, and (most importantly) nerve cells. These cells are available in all males, can be harvested without adverse effects and can be autografted- without risk of rejection. Other areas under research are amniotic fluid, maternal blood, and even skin.

Speaking of Glass Houses....

McCain linked to private Iran-Contra group

After bringing up that Barack Obama happened to serve on the same charity board as '60s Weather Underground co-founder William Ayers, it seems John McCain has also served on a board with some unsavory ties. The Senator from Arizona was on an advisory board of a US chapter of the World Anti-Communist League which has links to ultra-right-wing death squads in South America that fought the Nicaraguan leftist government in the '80s. During the Iran-Contra fiasco, the group supplied the anti-communist Contras with weapons and aide.

Those who live in glass houses should not throw rocks.

Our Solar System: from No Def to High Def

These days, the Solar System is looking a lot better than it used to. As NASA turns 50, check out this gallery of pictures over the years. The difference as technology progressed is stark and amazing.

Lego tower breaks world record

460,000 Lego bricks and 4 days later have yielded a Lego tower in Rathaus Platz, Vienna that now holds the world record in the Tallest Lego Construction category. The tower reaches 96.73 feet and features the work of 3,000 children.

I once built a tower that was as tall as I was... in about an hour.

XKCD: I am not a ninja

Oops...

No more drunk Gmailing with new feature

Once again, Google has your back, making sure that you don't send that angry email to your ex or tell your boss how you really feel. Mail Goggles let's you set times when you're most likely not to have all of your emailing faculties about you and then it requires you to solve several math. problems before you can hit send. You determine the difficulty of the problems when you set up the add-on.

If you get any of the problems wrong, Gmail prompts you ""Water and bed for you. Or try again."

The real question is, Will this be a feature in Android?

Senate helps Amtrak with a little love

The US Senate passed a bill that would increase funding to Amtrak by a veto-proof margin. Amtrak has seen increases in passengers but not much in the way of funds. The train company is saddled with debt while trying to improve an aging infrastructure.

With any luck, this will lead to improved service, expanded rail capacity, and extended lines into new cities.

XKCD: Flash Games

Many hours of my life have been spent in futile pursuit of meaningless victory.

Presidential Debate 1908

Hear recordings of Taft and Bryan speaking on wax cylinders. I particularly loved the political cartoons - they make our current elections look graceful.

Bill O'Reilly vs. The Honorable Barnett Frank, Congressman from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Obama on Olbermann's Worst Person List

And rightly so... dude forgot which anniversary he and his wife were about to share.

XKCD: Brain

Not today's, but oh so true.

McCain's Healthcare Solution: Wal-Mart

House defeats bailout

The US House of Representatives voted down a $700 billion emergency relief package today. The markets reacted sharply with the DOW Jones Industrial Average dropping over 700 points alone.

The bailout measure is massively unpopular on both sides, although leaders in both parties urged its passing to stave off further financial collapse. The bill would give the Secretary of the Treasury unprecedented power with little oversight, making many lawmakers and citizens uncomfortable.

Bailout Vote: Obama plans to attend, McCain "hopes" he can make it

After all that fuss about suspending campaigns and boycotting bills, the "Bailout Bill" is up for a vote today. Both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have issued press releases. Barack Obama will be at the vote and is planning on supporting the bill, but is still reviewing the final details. John McCain "hopes" he can vote on the bill, but he'll have to check his schedule.

New meaning for "On the rocks"

Nordic Rock stone ice cubes work just like regular ice cubes, except they are made of rock, and don't melt. Throw them in the freezer for an hour and then keep your drinks cool without watering them down.